Art in the Park

Wednesday, 14 November 2018

Our next sketch day will be to the Imperial War Museum, Lambeth Rd, London SE1 6HZ.This is appropriate as we have just passed the centenary of the ending
of the Great War, but in fact the most
spectacular display in the main hall features second world war aircraft, which can be
sketched from below and above.There
are various exhibitionsand displays
dealing with the Great War (and a very fine collection of wartime paintings, if
anyone feels like not sketching themselves). Lots of machinery, and people to sketch. The building is pretty spectacular if you can deal with the cold.
More details: https://www.iwm.org.uk/visits/iwm-london#location_5

A previous visit with the London Urban
Sketchers a year ago resulted in the following pictures which give an idea of
some possibilities both internal and external:

There are no restrictions as to art materials,
but bring a stool so that you can sit down at the view you want.

Meet at 11am in the main hall (go in the main door, and down some steps to the aircraft in the middle).Café, loos, all available, and should be
relatively empty as it will be a weekday in term time.

Friday, 9 November 2018

The Crossrail Place Roof Garden was a totally new environment for 13 Art in the Park sketchers last Tuesday. An up-to-the-minute architectural structure with the partially glazed roofing, no doubt having won various awards, and a very smart garden design below. We were particularly taken by a number of structural plants, including huge black spidery plants (unfortunately your editor was unable to identify these from home), tree ferns and a very fine japanese maple in stunning autumn colour. "The geographic location of the site – directly north of Greenwich –
places the docks virtually on the Prime Meridian, dividing the western
and eastern hemispheres. This positioning inspired the planting division
of the gardens into two geographic zones. Plants from the Western
hemisphere such as ferns and Sweet Gum are on the west side of the
Meridian line, with Asian plants such as bamboos, magnolias and maples
on the east side. The semi-permeable canopy structure enclosing the
garden helped to create a localised microclimate allowing the use of more
sensitive and rare species of plants." A list of the most prominent plants can be found here: http://www.landscapethejournal.org/Above-its-station We were pleased to see a blackbird and an empty nest, indicating that some wildlife had found its way across the acres of Canary Wharf's tower blocks and general concrete into a new safe environment.

Apart from the plants, we found other subjects of interest: one of us sketched the extraordinary design of the Crossrail station from outside, others some of the people visiting the garden (a surprising number of young mothers with buggies), and there was a dressed up piano, a WW1 remembrance art installation, and various pieces of statuary.

There was also a very satisfactory lunch facility, known as the Food Robot, a vast hanger with various street food stalls, including a far eastern one, to go with the theme of the garden. The Food Robot not only had large empty tables (with unfortunately screwed down stools) but was interesting artistically itself, and makes the whole place a viable winter venue for us at another time.

Sunday, 28 October 2018

Our next sketch date will be
Tuesday 6 November (apologies for the short notice, due to other commitments)
when we will be going to the Crossrail Place Roof Garden in Canary Wharf.

We will meet at
11 o’clock (in the garden, it does not look too big).

This is a new public space above the Crossrail Station at
Canary Wharf, and it is an exotic garden park several stories above the new
railway, mainly enclosed by a deeply contemporary glass roof. Entrance is free.Lots
to draw in the roof structure which is a sort of longitudinal geodesic dome, and the plant material which includes big tree
ferns.The garden is divided into two
sections, one containing plants from Australasia, and the other plants from
China and Japan. An opportunity for
plant studies if you do not want to go for the garden in the sky picture.Please
have a look at this website to get an idea of the set-up: https://landezine-award.com/crossrail-place-roof-garden/

Access:From
Canary Wharf tube station (Jubilee Line)Take the
large escalator up from the ticket hall. Turn right out of the main exit and
walk through Reuters Plaza past the clocks. Walk straight ahead through
the set of glass doors underneath the steps, and continue
straight through until you come back outside. Walk through Adam’s Plaza and the
entrance to Crossrail Place is in front of you. Go up the escalators to
the Roof Garden.From
Canary Wharf DLRTake the exit
on to the North Colonnade. Opposite One Canada Square there is a bridge leading
you into the first floor of Crossrail Place. Continue up the escalators to the
Roof Garden.

Upper Level -1 Crossrail Place, Canary Wharf, London E14 5ARWe have not checked, but feel
sure that there must be loos in the Giant Robot or somewhere in the approaches
to the Roof Garden, as they do performances in the Garden.

We suggest that you wrap up warmly, as there are gaps in the roof,
so it may be draughty and a bit chilly.There are benches, but you may want to bring a sketching stool.If it turns out to be too cold, we will
probably be able to sketch amongst the eateries in the Giant Robot.

Friday, 26 October 2018

Nine artists came on our first visit to Leadenhall Market, in the City of London. Most of us had never been to it before. We were charmed by its late Victorian splendour, and more practically, by the wide availability of tables and chairs, and the general lack of crowds due the timing of our visit early in the week, and having hit half-term by accident.

Several of us focused on the decorative features of the Market, the very splendid City of London dragons, and the flower bas-reliefs (one person embarking on collage, helped by the convenience of a secluded cafe table). Others were interested in the monumental architecture immediately outside the Market, including the contrast with the Market itself. Everyone else got to grips with the ultra-complicated main structure.

We enjoyed ourselves very much, and had a fairly private lunch upstairs in The Grapes pub, a real unreconstructed City watering hole, which Sherlock Holmes himself might have visited. Leadenhall Market is another place to return to in wet but not cold weather as it is "delightfully airy" as Edward Lear would have put it. There are other subjects to paint in this Market, including the flower stall, and people in and around the many restaurants, so we will be putting Leadenhall onto our revisit list.

Thursday, 4 October 2018

On our next sketching day we will be going to Leadenhall
Market, Gracechurch Street, in the City.This new venue offers cover against rain, as well as monumental
Victorian ironmongery, glass and arches. Parts of the market also featured
in the Harry Potter films, so yet again there are possibilities for fantasy art.More details and a map here:

We will meet at 11 o’clock under the Central glass roof
lantern.This links the various covered
roads and passages, principally Central Avenue which runs from the Gracechurch
Street entrance.

.

We suggest you bring
sketching stools as all the seats will be associated with cafes/restaurants.

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Welcome ...

... to the sketching group of the Islington Art Society. This group has attracted quite a lot of interest since it began in April 2014 and we have had various numbers of artists joining in at the different venues. Initially we chose to meet once a month until September but now we feel it has become a regular fixture we are aiming to continue every month excluding December. We have ideas for indoor venues over the next few months and will keep you posted as we organise them. So keep sketching!